After reading aloud a text on life in extreme environments, students will discuss what life is and the requirements of life. Groups of students will conduct an experiment of their choosing on chia seeds to explore how extreme environments affect the...(View More) growth of the plant. After conducting their experiments, they will write and illustrate a fictional story about an imaginary life form on Mars. This lesson is from "Red Planet: Read, Write, Explore!" which uses literacy, art, and creative expression as a vehicle for learning about Mars science and exploration. Includes alignment to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts.(View Less)

This is a lesson about the definition of life. Learners will compare real and fake or live and dead objects and brainstorm ideas about what life is; refine the definition by playing 20 Questions to identify an object or organism; and test the...(View More) definition by comparing "mystery" samples. Includes background reading for teachers, student pages, reflection questions, and blackline masters. This is activity 1 of 5 and sets the stage for subsequent activities in this educator resource guide - Astrobiology in your Classroom: Life on Earth..and Elsewhere?(View Less)

This is a lesson about organisms living under extreme conditions on Earth serving as analogs for extraterrestrial life. Learners will play a card game to create a set by matching an extremophile, an extreme habitat on Earth, and an extraterrestrial...(View More) habitat that may be similar to an Earth habitat. They will assemble a crew of extremophiles and target them to specific locations on a planet or moon. The activity concludes with a debate on the ethics of sending Earth life to other worlds. Includes background reading for teachers, student pages, reflection questions, and blackline masters. This is activity 4 in the educators guide, Astrobiology in your Classroom: Life on Earth..and Elsewhere?(View Less)

This is a lesson about the requirements for life on another planet. Learners will grow organisms in one of 12 classroom environments and identify common requirements (such as water, nutrients, and energy). They will also design a mission to identify...(View More) habitable places by searching for water, nutrients, and energy. A math extension explores measuring calories. Includes background reading for teachers, student pages, reflection questions, and blackline masters. This is activity 2 of 5 in Astrobiology in your Classroom: Life on Earth..and Elsewhere?(View Less)

This is a lesson about the characteristics necessary for life. Learners will identify the top candidates for life in the solar system by examining Habitability Cards, which discuss each planet and the six large moons in terms of water temperature,...(View More) atmosphere, energy, and nutrients. A math extension is provided on the Inverse Square Law. Includes background reading for teachers, student pages, reflection questions, and blackline masters. This is activity 3 of 5 in the educators guide, Astrobiology in your Classroom: Life on Earth..and Elsewhere? Note: See Related & Supplemental Resources (right side of this page) to download a separate PDF of the Habitability Cards used in this lesson.(View Less)

Working in pairs, students will create experimental conditions in terrariums in order to study what plants need to live. Variables to study include the presence or absence of soil, water, and sunlight. Students will record the growth of radish...(View More) plants as well as observations of "the water cycle" in their terrariums. At the conclusion of their experiments, students will share their results with the class and discuss how water, Earth materials, and air are all necessary to support living things. The activities use commonly-available or inexpensive materials (e.g., chart paper, clear soda bottles, potting soil, radish seeds, paper towels, water, tape, foil, and index cards). This is the first of three sets of learning activities that are companion activities to the Elementary GLOBE children's book, All About Earth: Our World on Stage. Includes a teacher implementation guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Students will be introduced to different species of macroinvertebrates. They will hypothesize why each insect looks the way it does. Then students will make observations of macroinvertebrates in an aquarium in their classroom. For an optional...(View More) extension, teachers can take students to a local stream or pond to conduct field observations. Materials needed include sand, water, aquatics plants and insects; estimated materials cost does not include aquarium. This is the 3rd of 3 sets of learning activities that are companion activities to the Elementary GLOBE children's book, Discoveries at Willow Creek. Includes a teacher implementation guide.(View Less)

This activity guides students through sampling, identification and counting of macroinvertebrates sampled in a GLOBE hydrology study site, and understand how the taxa composition found in the sample can be an indicator of water quality and ecosystem...(View More) health. The resource includes 8 field and laboratory protocols. This resource is a protocol within the Hydrology chapter of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

In this activity, students quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of a classification and understand a simple difference/error matrix. Students sort birds into three possible classes based on each bird’s beak: carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores...(View More) (plant eaters), and omnivores (meat and plant eaters). Students compare their answers with a given set of validation data and generate a difference/error matrix. Students discuss how to improve their accuracy based on identifying specific mistakes they made as indicated by the difference/error matrix. The resource includes color diagrams of common birds, a data table, and four student activity sheets. The activity is part of the Land Cover/Biology chapter of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide, and is supported by Land Cover/Biology protocols. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Searching the six satellite images of Mars provided in this investigation, students identify and locate areas that possibly sustained life in the past, might now sustain life, or could in the future. The URL opens to the investigation directory,...(View More) with links to teacher and student materials, lesson extensions, resources, teaching tips, and assessment strategies. Note that this is the last of four investigations found in the Grades 5-8 Module 2 of Mission Geography. The Mission Geography curriculum integrates data and images from NASA missions with the National Geography Standards. Each of the four investigations in Module 2, while related, can be done independently.(View Less)